P.I.E. Operation: PARASITIC

V: The Toast, The Ghost, and the Casket

The school nurse looked up from her middle school student-sized desk to find another staff member behind the backs of two boys; the smaller one had a few bruises and cuts, and the older one... had dry blood caking his face.

She stared at Toast in bewilderment before dismissing the teacher politely. The professor understood to leave and bidded the nurse good-by.

"...Names?" The caretaker asked after the teacher exited the room.

"Gregory." His age somehow made it sound like Greg had said 'Gwegory,' and the nurse raised an eyebrow at him.

The fifth grader glanced at Johnny, who hadn't made a movement since they entered the office. "Hello?" He grinned amusedly(clearly not understanding what was going on) and waved his hand in front of Toast's face.

Johnny went cross eyed and shook his head. "Uh, Johnathan Toast, sir--ma'am." He stuttered shyly.

The nurse refrained from acting offended and instead continued on. "I'll get to you in a second, Johnathan." She told Toast, turning to Greg. "Gregory, I'll be back with the disinfectant in a second. Stay right there."

The two conversed as they waited for the staff member to find the medicine.

"So," Gregory started, "wanna be friends? We could be ghost hunters together--Since Jimmy doesn't want to be one!"

What an odd time to say that... but... "Um, sure." Johnny said in response, not paying attention or knowing what he was getting himself into.

Gregory cheered. "We could totally go to... haunted houses when we're older! Just call me Johnny Ghost, or else!" He reminded happily.

"But, I'm Johnny! It'll be so confusing...!" Toast complained. He was smiling, though. Gregory might have been a strange friend to have, but Toast knew that the boy would be more of a long-term friend than any of what he's ever had. That is, if that Jimmy kid would accept him into the little social circle...

The caretaker returned and patched up Johnny Ghost's(Gregory) cuts on his arms and legs.

She said, "Where is the source of your bleeding, Johnny?"

"I, um..." Toast stuttered.

"Hold it, (Johnny) Bravo." Ghost stated haughtily. "I got this ...His nose was bleeding." It came out as unintentionally dramatic.

"Yes, uh, thank you, Johnny." Toast awkwardly said.

The nurse seemed puzzled, but smiled anyway. "You weren't picking at your nose, were you, Johnathan?"

"Wha... No...! That's unsanitary and also quite rude!" Johnny Toast knew he hadn't done that before, but the question made him blush furiously, causing the nurse to do anything but believe him.

Both had finally left the office. Johnny T., on the left, had temporary nose plugs (provided by the school, of course), mostly because he refused to hold his head up to stop the nosebleed, and the splash of blood on his face was washed off. Johnny G., on the other hand, only had a bandaid here and there.

"I hope to see you again soon, Greg--"

"Johnny," the fifth grader corrected what was technically a high school freshmen.

They treaded opposite directions. Johnny Toast walked into his classroom face down to hide the embarrassment.

Johnny Ghost was completely fine until Jimmy, who was politely holding open the door, forcefully pulled him by the sleeve to the seat to the left of his.

"Getting all Toasty with the ninth grader?" Jimmy scoffed.

"What does that mean?" Johnny Ghost inquired.

Yeah, maybe that was too far, Casket thought. "You're getting all friendly with that piece of Toast, weren't you?"

"Johnny is cool! He wants to be my ghost hunting partner, so I'll probably know him better than you when we're older!" Ghost said in defense.

Jimmy got to his point. "So you're just going to leave me behind? Is that what you're gonna do, Greggory?"

Johnny's eyes widened. Before he was able to say something sympathetic, the math teacher interrupted with, "Boys, you know you're not allowed to talk when someone else is talking?"

She turned away and continued teaching on the blackboard.

I'll remember that, Greggory. Jimmy's voice echoed in his head. Johnny's head snapped towards him. Jimmy held a very long grin on his face. His whole aura seemed darker, then.
     "Jim?" Ghost said quietly.
     Jimmy quickly turned towards Johnny. Everything in the room became white, and the warped expression on his face was pasted into Johnny's mind.

Johnny Ghost woke up from his past to a new future: there were peculiar blood stains lining his jacket.